Fool's Contract
by FriendlyCurse
Summary: Dipper forgot how dangerous the forest can be.
1. Chapter 1

Dipper heaved a frustrated sigh as he walked through the forest. "I can't believe I said that…"

The 'that' in question was an extremely lame pun that he was going to blame on Mabel's terrible influence. The problem with it was the look Wendy gave him. Yeah, she had laughed but it was laughing at him, not with him. He could tell. He was back to being a little kid in her eyes.

With a groan he stopped at a tree, leaned back and let his head thump heavily against it as he looked up at the sky through the branches. "I'd give anything to be able to fix things with Wendy."

"Done!" A far too cheerful voice proclaimed.

Dipper felt his blood turn to ice as he turned to the yellow triangle floating nearby, somehow looking smug in spite of having only one eye and no mouth. "I wasn't talking to you!"

"Sure you were, kid. Like I said… I'm watching you. You were obviously making a deal with me since you weren't talking to anyone else and that sure was a deal if ever I heard one." Bill said cheerfully. "And now you can fix things with Wendy! I'm even so generous that you can fix things with anyone! Don't like how an interaction went? Just will them to forget and they will! You can try again and get it right!"

"What is the price, though?" Dipper demanded angrily. "I didn't agree to _anything_!"

"Oh, yes you did. Anything. That's exactly what you said." Bill laughed as he spun wildly. "But don't worry, kid, I get the feeling you'd be a better friend than enemy so it's nothing you'll miss."

"Tell me!" He shouted but Bill vanished and he woke with a start still leaning against the tree. He looked around nervously, trying to figure out whether that had been a dream or Bill had actually been present. Either way it made him nervous and he headed back to the Shack at a quick jog.

Wendy was listening to music and flipping through a magazine looking bored, when he approached she looked up and smiled - not the same smile or knowing look he was expecting. "Hey, Dipper. Where you been? I thought we were going to hang out."

"Yeah… Hey, do you remember what we were talking about earlier?" He asked, fighting back the nervous twist in his stomach.

"Uhh, not really. Did we talk earlier? Was it important or something?" She asked with a lopsided smile.

"Not at all." He grinned. However much he smiled, there was still a sick feeling in his stomach. Yes, it was a relief she didn't remember the stupid joke but what had Bill done to make it possible? It didn't sit well. "Hey, I'll be back in a few minutes, just need to talk to Mabel about something."

As soon as he was out of sight he dashed for the stairs, seeking out the only person he could trust to talk to about this.

"Are you okay? You don't look good." Mabel said as he burst into the room. She had a black sweater and hat on Waddles and was trying to teach him to use the grappling hook.

He struck that absurdity from his mind and focused on her. "Mabel, I think I might have done something really stupid on accident…"

"Is this about breakfast? I told you not to put eat the cereal with syrup on it… Been there, done that - it's _not_ worth the sugar crash." She sighed, clearly disappointed in the outcome.

"What? No… Listen, I said something stupid to Wendy earlier and when I wished I hadn't Bill Cypher heard and thought it was some kind of contract. He won't tell me what the price is but now I can make people forget things I say if I want to."

Mabel halted her teaching efforts and stared at him in disbelief. "You made a deal with that guy? The guy the book says is super dangerous, never call or deal with him?"

"Not intentionally." Dipper said defensively.

"All you have to do is not use the power, right?" Mabel asked, frowning. "You can't just go around making people forget stuff all the time… You have to at least figure out what he's taking in trade, though."

"He wouldn't tell me." Dipper repeated. "He just said it's something I wouldn't miss. He could be taking a hair for each use for all I know."

"You shouldn't have been making deals over Wendy, anyway." Mabel huffed. "It's not right."

"It's not like I summoned him!" Dipper protested. Did she really think he'd do something like this intentionally?

"Do dream demons show up in the real world on their own?" Mabel asked pointedly. "Haven't seen him around without someone summoning him."

"I didn't!" He insisted as his temper flared. She really didn't believe him? What had he been thinking? He wished he'd never told her about this.

Mabel's eyes glazed over for a moment as he realized what he'd just thought. When she looked back at him she tilted her head. "Hey, Dipper. What's got you so upset?"

"Nothing… I'm fine…." He said, backing out of the room. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

"You alright, kid?" Stan asked, frowning at Dipper.

"Fine. Just fine." He said, forcing his hands to stop fidgeting. "Really, I'm fine."

"Yeah, and I'm Girl Scout. Say it a few more times and maybe one of us will believe it." He snorted derisively and narrowed his eyes at his great nephew. "You know you can talk to me. This about Wendy again?"

"Uhh.. yeah, sure." He agreed. There was no _way_ he could talk to Stan about what happened! There was no way he could imagine a positive response to ' _I made a deal with a demonic triangle guy without knowing or planning it in advance, now I can accidentally change the course of my life just by regretting awkward moments and for each time that happens I lose… something.'_. Even if his Grunkle was crazy enough to believe it, there was no chance he would find the whole thing amusing and offer up an easy solution.

"Tell you what, go into town and get a job at Gleeful's Auto Sales and when you've got all the lies out, come back and talk to me. I'll help you if you tell me what's going on but I'm not in the mood to play this game right now."

Dipper watched Grunkle Stan walk off with wide eyes and a knot in his stomach.

"You okay, dude? You look pretty down."

Dipper looked up to see Soos in the doorway behind him munching on what was left of a burrito.

"Things are just a little weird right now, that's all." He said, wishing he could elaborate.

"Oh, yeah. That's every day around here." Soos chuckled. "Remember that time all the pens came to life and Mabel tried to get them to draw a unicorn mural?"

"Too bad all they wanted to draw was giant butterflies eating people." Dipper laughed. At least that mistake had been easily fixed... Grunkle Stan still thought the twins had unhealthy thoughts about flying insects but better to let him believe that than explain the truth. Actually, that spell was only supposed to bring _one_ pen to life - Dipper had mispronounced a word and the range extended to the whole Mystery Shack. The truth would not only sound insane but if believed, Stan would probably still take the journal away saying he shouldn't have access to stuff like that.

"Well, cheer up little dude. Things'll get better." Soos said with a grin and ambled by to get back to work.

"Yeah… thanks, Soos." Dipper managed though there wasn't much enthusiasm to be mustered. Anyone who knew about this would turn on him, suspect him of making them forget things and how long would it be before they were all right about it?

He sighed and slipped out of the Shack, he wanted to be alone to think about this. Finding a quiet place nearby he flipped through the pages of the Journal, the one thing that made him feel absolutely normal. He may have made a mistake but there were all these creatures hiding out there somewhere in the woods. What he was going through was a tiny problem compared to some of this other stuff.

* * *

 _What is wrong with me?!_ Dipper stared at the food on his plate, knowing he needed to eat but he just wasn't hungry now. He felt sick. Grunkle Stan had tried again to push him about what was wrong, asking roundabout questions and he'd slipped on one of the answers. Just enough that the older man had gotten that predatory look, about to go in for the kill. Dipper panicked. Now everything was back to normal with Grunkle Stan looking bored and distracted, like he'd be anywhere else.

Mabel was still staring him down as she ate - she knew something was bothering him simply because he wasn't eating. Luckily she was easily distracted. "Hey Mabel, did you ever get around to making a scrapbook page for Mabel Juice?"

Her eyes widened and he could see the glitter dancing in her brain already. Suspicions forgotten, she shoveled what was left of her food into her mouth and dashed upstairs still chewing.

Dipper didn't quite understand her obsession with scrapbooks and on one of her Fun-Dip binges she'd contemplated doing a book dedicated to her favorite inanimate objects, Fun-Dip being one of them. She had also mentioned a two page layout as a tribute to pinecones. He didn't ask for her reasoning there.

"You always enable her creative obsessions?" Grunkle Stan asked as the frantic steps retreated and ended in a crash as Mabel tripped just inside the door to their room.

A faint "I'm okay!" echoed down to them.

"The creative ones, yeah." Dipper nodded.

"Hmm. And what about _your_ obsessions?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Don't have obsessions but I'm running kinda late so I better get going see ya!" Dipper said quickly, sliding out of his chair and hurrying outside. Late for what? _Stupid, stupid, stupid…_ He took a few steps and felt eyes on him. He was being watched from everywhere. That wasn't particularly new but it was still unnerving.

He didn't go far from the Shack, that intense feeling of being watched was just… wrong.

He read the journal by flashlight for a while, debated on which creature he wanted to try and find next, then went inside. Mabel was in the room staring at a half empty pitcher of Mabel Juice, eyes unfocused and jittery.

"Research?" He asked, dropping onto his bed.

She giggled then there was a storm of glitter and glue - some of it even making it onto the page in front of her. It was chaos and only by the color was it particularly discernable what the page was about. Crayon scribbles, glitter, and dinosaur stickers were scattered on the page at random.

Dipper sighed and looked at the ceiling. He had to find a way out of that deal… being able to fix his stupid mistakes was really useful. Too useful to resist.


	3. Chapter 3

He woke the next morning to see Mabel on the floor curled up around the pitcher protectively. She'd be sleeping heavy after that much Mabel Juice and… work. He sighed and looked around the room. She had run a line of glue along every corner and edge in the room and sprinkled it with glitter. In the bright morning sun it looked like Strawberry Shortcake had seen Tron one time too many and decorated their room.

With a sigh he got up and slipped out. Once downstairs he climbed out the window so he wouldn't have to deal with Grunkle Stan or anyone else with uncomfortable questions. He just wanted things back to normal even if it did mean Wendy looked down on him.

Curling up with his book under the picnic table, he ignored the feeling of people watching him. That constant feeling. It was probably gnomes. They must have seen him talking to Bill and were watching. Waiting.

Unnerved, he flipped to their page and reread it five times before looking to see what else might be hiding out there watching him. An hour later he was convinced that there were fairy naga infesting a couple of the trees. All the signs were were mostly harmless, regular little snakes with miniature humanoid torsos on one end… but they _were_ venomous and might bite if aggravated. When he saw Wendy pulling up he hurried out, watching the trees in case one decided to spring out at them.

"Hey, Wendy!" Dipper said with forced cheerfulness. "Sure is chilly out this morning, let's hurry inside."

"Uh, Dipper… it's not really cold out." Wendy said, quirking an eyebrow at him. "Either there's a random surprise party inside or you're acting kinda weird again. You've been like that for a few days now. You okay?"

"What? I'm not acting strange." He said nervously. She'd noticed something… what was it?

"Yeah, you are. Seriously, what's going on?" She pushed.

Dipper panicked.

"Hey, Dipper!" Wendy said, jumping a little. "You're like a ninja today! When did you get here?"

"You know me," He grinned. "Always sneaking around."

"Sure." She rolled her eyes and laughed.

 _Oh no, that was lame and she's going to call me weird again…_ He thought in dismay, wishing for her to forget again. How had the day gone so wrong so fast?

* * *

Nothing happened when he used his power. He'd looked everywhere and taken everything into account. As many times as he had ended up making people forget over the course of the day, nothing was different. All his things were where they left them, more glittery than the day before but otherwise present. Not going bald that he could see so apparently Bill was telling the truth when he said whatever it was he wouldn't miss it. He considered maybe Bill was taking minutes off the end of his life or something and that was a possibility but they would be at the end and he probably wouldn't want them anyway so he stopped worrying about it.

It was a massive relief to be able to freely use this gift that he now realized truly _was_ a gift and not some kind of trap. After that acceptance he had navigated easily through the day, avoiding confrontations and the notice of the fairy naga. He wanted to give them a few days to wander off before he went back into the forest. They were probably migrating. Just migrating. Nothing to worry about.

With a nod he checked for anything under the bed and in the closet that shouldn't be there and curled up for a nap.

* * *

He woke standing in front of the vending machine, an imperfect dollar bill being sucked in and spit back out in an infinite loop of disappointment. He couldn't remember what coming downstairs, couldn't remember what he wanted, but he was disappointed nonetheless.

"Dipper?" He gasped as he realized Mabel was standing beside him and she looked worried, almost scared. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Nothing." He said as casually as he could, cursing silently at her look of absolute disbelief. "I'm fine, seriously."

"You were talking about purple frogs eating bandaids… Normally I'd say you've had too much Fun-Dip but that's _me_. What's wrong with you lately?"

He grabbed the bill, willed her to forget and sprinted outside. He didn't want to explain it to her - she wouldn't understand. She'd be angry and jealous. He sighed and sat on the picnic table. It was a mess… he wasn't acting weird, they just thought he was because they couldn't remember.

"Something's up, kid." Grunkle Stan said, dropping to sit next to him.

"Don't know what you're talking about. Everything's fine." Dipper said with an exasperated sigh. "Why does everyone keep thinking something is wrong?!"

"Some things are hard to miss. Your shirt's on backwards." He pointed out.

"So I was distracted." He muttered, looking around as he felt someone watching again. The fairy nagas were back… it was a short migration.

"It's more than that. I think we need to take you to talk to someone since you won't talk to us." He said, watching Dipper's expression closely.

"Wait, what? Like a doctor?"

"Yeah, a doctor." Stan nodded. "...for the head. Set up an appointment for tomorrow afternoon."

"You're going to make me go see a shrink?" His jaw dropped. Not only was his Grunkle suggesting he see a psychiatrist but the penny pinching guy intended to _pay_ for it. What was wrong with him?

"Won't hurt." He offered.

The anger and feeling of betrayal cut deep. Dipper jumped down from the table and ran. He didn't pay any attention to where he was going, ignored the calls from behind him, he just kept running until he couldn't breathe and his legs had gone wobbly. He dropped to sit against a tree as he tried to figure out how to fix this.

"You sure look miserable, kid. Want some help?"

"Bill?" He looked up at the floating triangle, concern was reflected in that single eye. "You can help?"

"Oh, sure. No problem at all! What are friends for, right?" He asked cheerfully.

"Right." He grinned, flooded with relief. Bill helped him before, the Author was wrong - he could be trusted.

"Just let me have your body and I'll set it all right, okay?" Bill said, holding out a hand.

"Thanks, Bill." Dipper smiled, shaking the hand. "You're the best."

"See, kid? I knew you wouldn't miss your sanity." Bill said cheerfully as he walked away, readjusting his cap.


End file.
